A little writing, a little knitting, then probably a little more writing again. Or maybe it's the other way around...

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

La Gran Aventura: Downtown Guadalajara

Every weekend we will be touring different sites: Lake Chapala, Teuchitlán, Mexico City, and Tonalá. Last Saturday, we started with downtown Guadalajara. We did a really good job of looking like tourists.

We had to be careful, though. We were actually warned not to take pictures of the people because they could have us arrested. Here are the only Mexicans I could freely take pictures of:

The architecture was full of little details.

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I was walking up the stairs of the municipal building when I was startled by a mural overhead.

José Clemente Orozco

We actually saw several interesting murals, but my pictures just don't do them justice. We toured a cathedral, too, and then we walked through the plazas where we saw spitting frogs...

Peeing boys...

And creepy benches...

I didn't get to shop the big market, San Juan de Dios, because we stopped by a restaurant for fish tacos instead. (Well, I had fish tacos. My classmates from UALR ordered hamburgers and french fries. Silly Americans.)

Sunday, I walked to church. How is it that I lived in Utah for eleven years, but I have to go to Mexico to be able to walk to church?

I have to admit, church was oddly a combination of exhausting and comforting. The same format, songs, and lesson manuals were a little taste of my home routine, but listening in Spanish for three hours straight wore me out. Thank goodness for siestas!

More later! I'll try to take more pictures, but I'm usually so consumed by all the experiences that I don't even remember I have a camera. Classes are going well, and I start a Mexican cooking class tomorrow. ¡Hasta luego!

Joyful Distractions

About Me

I am a slightly smart-alecky mom of five amazing kids and wife to the most patient man in the universe. Some days I want to take on the world, and other days I want to go back to bed and hide. I try to laugh about my adventures swinging back and forth between overwhelming optimism and the dark contrast of depression because if I don't laugh, I'll cry, and nobody wants to look like a mascara raccoon.